𝑩𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏, 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒍
Bernie Sanders has solidified his front-runner standing among members of the progressive political action committee Democracy for America, while Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke have both fallen back sharply, according to the group’s latest straw poll.
Elizabeth Warren is now running second to Sanders in the DFA poll — though she trails the independent senator from Vermont by more than 30 percentage points, according to the survey released Tuesday and obtained first by POLITICO.
The straw poll, which is significant more as an indicator of activist support than a measure of public opinion, reflects the durability of support for Sanders and a shift in some left-flank enthusiasm for two rivals: O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman, and Biden, the former vice president who is expected to announce his 2020 presidential campaign soon.
DFA said Buttigieg likely benefitted most from waning support for O’Rourke. Among members who participated in both the DFA’s December and April polls, about 23 percent of O’Rourke’s supporters shifted their support to Buttigieg, with another 16 percent moving to Sanders and about 12 percent shifting to Warren.
In DFA’s first 2020 straw poll, in December, Biden was running second to Sanders at 15 percent, followed by O’Rourke at 12 percent. By this month, Biden’s support had fallen to about 8 percent, while O’Rourke slid to about 3 percent.
Meanwhile, Sanders drew 42 percent support, up about 6 percentage points from December. Warren saw support for her candidacy tick up to about 11 percent, according to the poll, followed by South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at about 10 percent.